Bam Bam won his first prize!

While at the Lamb and Wool conference we had the opportunity to enter in the fleece contest. All we needed was a small sample and they would micron test it for us for free and the finest sample won. Well, out of all of the samples, BamBam won. He had a 16.8 micron sample with very little variation in fiber diameter. The next best was a 21.7 micron. His prize was $50 (about what his feed costs are for the year) and the honor of being the finest. We congratulated him as soon as we got home. It was dark, but I think he was pleased.

Unfortunately, the tester's printer was not working. I will have to wait for him to print off the data and mail it to me. Untl then, here are his parent's tests results from this last shearing:

The CV is really just the amount of variation in diameter of fiber. It should be under 22% or it will be downgraded. Mary's CV is bigger than PeeWee's because she had a pregnancy, birth, and lactation cycle. Even so, her fiber remained remarkably consistant.

The comfort factor is the percentage of fibers under 30 microns.

I will have one or more new lambs from this pair in April. We are very excited.

Minnesot Lamb and Wool

We just got back from a 2 day seminar put on by the Minnesota Lamb and Wool. I will go through my notes and post some of the things we learned in the coming weeks.

The seminar was worth every penny. We had classes with veterinarians and were able to ask a multitude of questions. We had vendors who we could discuss issues with. Pipestone Vet and Sydell were there. They brought some of their products and were available for questions.

At the end of the weekend we had the opportunity to tour a 1,000 ewe "farm" (do I say farm or ranch? I usually say ranch.) The owner spent a lot of time and money trying to get as many thing automated as he could. We saw many things we would like to try and implement here.

Some of our classes included: Scrapie, Bio security, Industry Challenges, Wool grading, and even wool dying.

There was a contest on who brought the finest fleece sample from their flock. They micron tested the samples and our little Bam Bam won. We did not have a long enough sample to bring from anyone except for our 2 ram lambs because we sheared a few months ago. We decided to bring a lock from Bam Bam because he is so soft. His sample was 16.8 microns and was so consistent. He won $50. We are so happy for him. Unfortunately, there were no other breeder there who had the fleece and breeding characteristics we need, so it looks like artificial insemination will be a must in a couple of years.

My mother and grandmother took the kids to a hotel and came back to feed and care for our animals. They did a great job. It was nice knowing that everyone is cared for.

Sweaters

I now have 9 sweaters in my queu at ravelry. I am also working on wisteria by Kate Gilbert. I am about 45% along on this sweater. I have made the decision that I will complete at least 6 of these sweaters by this time next year. I tried to add a few things that I have never done and also vary the plain knit with the cables and lace and color work instead of doing it all together. I also tried to choose different styles. I will also have to get a few other projects done in additon to these. Daughter 2 wants a skirt, Daughter 1 wants a cape, and son wants a fur hat. I know that with all I have to do, this seems a little ambitious, but I really am in need of sweaters. I only have a couple and either they are too old, don't fit, or I just don't like them anymore.

Diamond lace scarf

This scarf took me FOREVER!!! First I spun lace weight singles and then I knit right from the bobbin. I love it, though. It is for sale in my etsy shop.

Etsy

I just added items to my new Etsy shop. Some of them are on the side bar.

I was procrastinating about it, but a lady from town asked me to bring some of my hand spun to her home last weekend because she was participating in the town wide craft / boutique fair. Well, I had to get everything labeled and in a hurry. Procrastination, over. I will add new items in a few days, but I am testing the waters right now.

Etsy has pretty fair listing policies. You pay $0.20 for each item listed and when it sells you pay a percentage of the sale to them. If it does not sell, you owe them nothing. Let me know what you think.